


Are You Free, Haru?

by MyriahKamm



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, ReiHaru Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-11
Updated: 2015-01-11
Packaged: 2018-03-07 04:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 464
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3161303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyriahKamm/pseuds/MyriahKamm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rei asks Haru an important question.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Are You Free, Haru?

**Author's Note:**

> Written for ReiHaru Week!  
> Day 1 Prompt: Free

It’s summer break, and Rei and Haruka are at the pool. Gou-chan and Amakata-sensei must have done something drastic to convince the school administration to allow them to continue to use the pool over break, Rei muses. He’s glad, of course, because it means Haru can come swim here if he wants, and it’s  _much_  easier to watch him swim at the pool than it is at the ocean.

At the moment, he’s sitting at the edge of the pool watching Haru swim. It’s just like it had been when Rei had decided to join the swim club. He moves as gracefully and freely as he did that day, when Rei had realized that swimming  _was_  beautiful and that it was something worth pursuing. Haru slices through the water like a dolphin, not fighting it but allowing it to flow around him.

Although he looks free, although he looks like his old self, Rei doesn’t know if he’ll ever be sure. He has a feeling Haru will always be hung up on Rin-san. He has a feeling Haru might  _never_  be free again, and he can’t help but feel like that might somehow be his fault. He’d done everything he could to try to free the older teen, mere weeks ago when he’d given up his spot in the relay for Rin. All Rei wanted, and still wants, is for Haru to be free.

But  _can_  Haru be free if he’s dating Rei? Can he be free if he’s so intimately attached to anyone at all? Rei isn’t so sure.

Haru’s fingers touch the wall, followed by his palms, before he stands up and pulls off his goggles. He wasn’t pushing himself, wasn’t trying to better his time or anything, so he isn’t panting or anything like that. Rather, a contented sigh escapes him. He glances at Rei, who offers him a smile.

"Aren’t you going to swim, Rei?" Haru asks softly, his tone saying  _I don’t really care if you do, just asking,_ while his eyes are almost pleading.

"May I ask you a question first?" Rei counters, slipping his feet into the water.

Haru nods, giving Rei an expectant look.

"Do you remember telling me you weren’t free this past school year?"

Haru nods again stoically.

"Are you free now, Haru?" Rei asks quietly.

With that slight-smile of his, Haru swims closer to Rei, the faintest of kisses finding Rei’s right foot.

"Yes, I’m free," Haru murmurs, his blue eyes meeting Rei’s violet ones. "Thanks to you, Rei, I’m free."

With a smile, Rei slides off the deck and into the water. The two of them dive beneath the surface and begin swimming together. As they swim side-by-side, Rei can feel, as though channeled through the water, that Haru truly is free.


End file.
